Fang Yun remembered seeing this scene during the county exam. It was the power of the Holy Temple that pushed away the dark clouds and prevented the city from flooding. However, no matter how powerful the Holy Temple was, it could only cover one city. The farmland outside the city could not be helped and would inevitably be flooded by a large amount of rain, causing root necrosis. Moreover, because there was no sunlight, the crops that were not afraid of water would also have reduced yields.
Shi Chang Hongcheng said in confusion: "These past two days are really weird. I haven't seen such heavy rain in more than ten years. It has been raining all day and all night, and it has been so heavy. Could there be a big change?"
Another soldier asked, "Could it be the dragons that are making the clouds and rain?"
"That shouldn't be the case. Maybe something big happened to the dragon clan, like the death of a dragon's son or grandson. The dragons cried, and heavy rain fell in the ten kingdoms. These things have happened before."
"It's raining so hard, will Lord Li take action?"
"If it was just a heavy rain in one prefecture, Lord Li could use the great scholar's true writings and the talent of the Holy Temple to forcibly disperse it, but this is a heavy rain in the whole state, so the great scholar must come in person."
Fang Yun felt that the rain was more and more strange, but he was just a scholar after all. He could not do anything about the feud between the three clans, the conflict between the two countries, or even the climate of this state.
"Let's go and have a farewell dinner."
More than one hundred people from the first battalion came to the canteen one after another, but compared with usual days, the canteen seemed a little empty.
The food today was exceptionally good, with everything included except wine. Everyone chatted while eating, and many veterans burst into tears as they spoke.
The friendship between comrades-in-arms over the years cannot be severed just like that, nor can the many years of military career be put aside.
Finally, more than a hundred people came together to offer tea to Fang Yun.
"Master Fang, I don't know when we will meet again after today's separation. If you need anything, just say a word and I will rush to your aid from a thousand miles away!"
"Teacher, when I pass the imperial examination, I will definitely tell you the good news first!"
"We Jiangzhou people have decided that when we pass the exam, we will set up a 'Fangshe' with you as the leader. We will unite together, enter the court together, kill monsters and barbarians together, and travel through the ten kingdoms together!"
"Master, we are drinking tea instead of wine to thank you for your kindness in giving us a new life! If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely serve you wholeheartedly!"
Everyone thanked him and drank the tea in their cups together.
Fang Yun could see that these people were very sincere, and he was so moved that he actually wanted to accept them as his students.
After breakfast, Fang Yun brought his luggage to the First Guard Battalion of Dinghai Army and became an ordinary soldier of the Fifth Team and the Fifth Squadron.
In the next few days, Fang Yun lived a peaceful life, doing drills and then going to the library to study the art of war. Every night when others were asleep, he would be absorbed in the world of strange books, reading the classics of the saints or writing essays on the meaning of the classics. Occasionally, he would study the second of the Thirty-Six Strategies, "Besieging Wei to Save Zhao".
At first, Fang Yun confused the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao with the sixth strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, but after looking carefully, he found that from a strategic point of view, besieging Wei to save Zhao was better.
The purpose of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west is to make the enemy unaware of which target to attack.
The scary thing about the "Besiege Wei to Save Zhao" strategy is that once this strategy is used, the enemy will be controlled by the enemy and will have to come to the rescue. This is close to the level of an open conspiracy.
The strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao originated in the Warring States Period. At that time, Pang Juan attacked Zhao. In order to save Zhao, Sun Bin pretended to attack Xiangling of Wei. Pang Juan knew that Sun Bin was feinting to attack Wei, but he had to give up Zhao to protect Xiangling of Wei, and was finally defeated.
Once the tactic of besieging Wei to save Zhao is used, the enemy's goals and actions are controlled by us, and the enemy has no choice but to fight desperately, which reaches a very high level in the art of war.
Fang Yun thought of the military strategists and the diplomats again, and found that from a certain perspective, the ideas of the military strategists and the diplomats were the same.
"The best strategy is to defeat the enemy's plans and to win without fighting. These are the thoughts of the military sage Sun Tzu, and they coincide with the ideas of the diplomats. But the problem is that the military strategists will be prepared for the failure of the strategy, and then launch a war to win. But once the "strategy" and "diplomacy" of the diplomats fail, they will be of no use at all, and will instead plunge the country into a quagmire. It is precisely because of this that after the Qin Dynasty, the diplomats were either swallowed up by the miscellaneous schools or incorporated into the military schools, and almost disappeared."
"No wonder the achievements of the military strategists and legalists are far higher than those of the diplomats. No wonder the diplomats have not been canonized. It's because the diplomats lack a 'long-term foundation'. I'm afraid the diplomats themselves know this, so they want to unite with the barbarians. Once the alliance with the barbarians is successful, the two tribes will have to continue diplomacy. If the relationship between the two tribes continues, the foundation of the diplomats will be there."
Fang Yun figured it out and continued to study the art of war in depth, without rushing to write the second strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao.
Time goes by day by day.
After June 20th, it was time for the editors of the monthly magazine "Holy Way" to review poems and articles.
"Starting from April's "The Holy Way", to May, June, and next July, there are poems and essays by Fang Yun every month. Although the title of this month's "Farewell to Zhang Poyue at Pinghu" is a bit vulgar, the 'The lotus leaves connecting the sky are endless and green, and the lotus flowers reflecting the sun are particularly red' is a masterpiece about lotus. At present, it is only in Mingzhou. It will take some time to brew and may be able to stabilize the country. Alas, in the future I can say that I have watched Fang Yun's poems grow old." said the oldest scholar Meng.
"That's right. You have a very good eye. You have praised Fang Yun's poems and essays since the first time you saw them." said the middle-aged scholar An Daxue.
“Will Fang Yun’s poem be published in the July issue of Sheng Dao?” asked Ge Daxueshi on the other side, stroking his long beard.
"There are very few poems and essays this month, so we'll publish the Three Character Classic written by Fang Yun before. Although the Three Character Classic is simple and easy to understand, it is very useful for children. Various places in Jiangzhou have tried using the Three Character Classic for teaching. I sent people to conduct a secret investigation, and the results are excellent! It can be included in the Sacred Way." said Grand Scholar Meng.
"Not appropriate, let's postpone it." said Ge Daxueshi.
When Grand Scholar An saw this, he thought to himself that it was not good. Grand Scholar Ge was from the Wu State, so he would naturally suppress Fang Yun a little. Grand Scholar Meng admired Fang Yun very much and had suppressed the "Three Character Classic" for so long. If Fang Yun was not allowed to move on to the "Sacred Way" this time, he would definitely not give up.
"Why do you say that, Grand Scholar Ge?" Grand Scholar Meng turned his head and stared at Grand Scholar Ge.
"The Holy Way may be taken for its talent or for its righteousness, but although this article has the teaching method, neither of them is acceptable, so how can it be included in the Holy Way?"
"So is the Hundred Family Surnames a work of genius or of profound moral principles?" asked Grand Scholar Meng.
"That was appointed by the Half Saint! Could it be that Brother Meng wants to bring this matter to the Lord of the East Saint?"
Now it was Scholar Meng's turn to be speechless.
Scholar An said, "Since you two have a dispute, let's follow the convention and let the great scholar decide."
Scholar Meng reached out and picked up the Three Character Classic and said, "Please let Luo Wenzong decide!"
If a great scholar has a piece of writing that is well-known throughout the world, and his talent has reached the pinnacle, he can be given the title of "Wen Zong" (literary master), and the number of people who are given this title is only slightly more than that of a semi-saint.
"Brother Meng, please!" Scholar Ge remained calm as usual.
The three of them walked to a large courtyard and stood still. In front of them was a small building with its door closed. There was a plaque on the door with the words "Xi Chen" inscribed on it.
Grand Secretary Meng bowed to the small building and said, "We have had a dispute over the Three Character Classic. I hope Emperor Wenzong will make the decision."
"come in."
The door of the small building was opened, and at the deepest part of the main hall was a bench as big as a bed. A skinny old man with an unremarkable appearance was lying on it, reading a book. He did not have the elegance of a legendary great scholar, but the three university scholars did not look strange.
Luo Wenzon sat up reluctantly, put the book aside, and looked at the three people listlessly with dull eyes.
Academician An lowered his head and thought to himself that he was indeed a famous lazy writer.
The three grand secretaries remained silent, waiting for Luo Wenzong's decision.
After half a quarter of an hour, Luo Wenzong said lazily: "The Three Character Classic has the merit of enlightenment. You can go to the Holy Way. But if not, it doesn't matter. You can make up your own mind."
The three Grand Secretaries were not surprised. Grand Secretary Meng said, "We can't decide, so it's up to you?"
"I don't want to decide." Luo Wenzong said slowly.
"Lord Luo, please make your decision." Grand Scholar Meng was not afraid of the great literary master at all.
Luo Wenzon sighed repeatedly and was about to speak when a cold snort suddenly came from out of nowhere in the room and the four people trembled.
Luo Wenzong, who had been lazing around, almost jumped off his chair, standing on the ground barefoot with his head down.
"Luo Xiaolan!"
Luo Wenzong, who was over a hundred years old, felt distressed when he heard Dong Sheng calling him by his nickname in public. He said with a sad face, "Yes."
The three university scholars quickly shut their mouths for fear of laughing out loud.
"The Three Character Classic in the Holy Academy was not written by Fang Yun himself. Fang Yun is not available to see guests at the moment. On the Qixi Festival, you go to Yuhai City and ask for the Three Character Classic written by him. This article will be published in the August issue of the Holy Way."
Luo Wenzong asked in a low voice: "Lord Dongsheng, do you want us, the great scholars, to study the Three Character Classic in detail? It's not necessary." He did not explicitly say that Fang Yun's "Improper Etiquette" was a classic that was passed down throughout the world for the great scholars to study, because the three university scholars in the room did not know about this.
The voice of the Eastern Saint King Jinglong sounded again: "The front page of the August issue of Holy Way is reserved for the Three Character Classic. I will write the title myself."
When the four people in the room heard this, they felt as if their heads had exploded and their ears were buzzing.
Scholar Ge, who had previously opposed the "Sacred Way" in the "Three Character Classic", felt weak all over and murmured weakly, "Selected by a semi-saint! It turned out to be selected by a semi-saint just like "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Classic"?"
He just felt his face burning, and he wished he could bang his head against the wall and die in this room. He actually dared to stop the "Holy Way" in the "Three Character Classic" selected by the semi-saint, which was almost equivalent to bringing disaster to the country and the people!
Grand Secretary An looked at the man from Wu with sympathy. The previous Grand Secretary from Qing was forced to leave the Holy Academy because he wanted to suppress Fang Yun's poems. Now this Grand Secretary from Wu will not stay long either.
Luo Wenzong took a deep breath and asked respectfully, "After I get the Three Character Classic, will I send it to Dongsheng Pavilion for you to comment on it?"
The smiling voice of the Eastern Saint came: "The little fellow Li Wenying has great luck in annotating the Three Character Classic. Although there are some omissions, there are no mistakes in the text, so I will not interfere. You don't need to send it to the Eastern Saint Pavilion. I just wrote the inscription. You can take the original manuscript of the Three Character Classic and send it to the Hall of All Saints."
The four of them were stunned, even more shocked than when they heard that a semi-saint had chosen them, they simply couldn’t believe it!
"Master Dongsheng, are you really sending the Three Character Classic to the Hall of Saints? This... this..." The great scholar was speechless. (To be continued...)